A Place To Rest
by John Peters
Summary: Ghost Rider. Haven't read it in years but here goes. He's back in Johnny and looking for fun.


A Place To Rest  
(Part One)  
  
  
"Look, I know you have to live in me, for whatever twisted reason, I don't remember why any more, but can you at least tell me what you're about, why you have to do the things you do. I've nearly died because of you, and I barely know who you are, or what you are. I was happy. Do you know how that felt. For once in my life i had a place to be, where i was welcome, where i was loved. I'd given up the riding, got a job, nothing fancy but i was happy. You can have no idea what you have taken from me, and yet i don't know if i can hate you. I don't know.  
Can you tell me? Please? Who are you?"  
  
A single word, deep within him answered, cold and hollow, said simply, without feeling, except maybe conviction; "Vengeance."  
  
  
The sun was high in the cloudless August sky. It shone of his visor, reflected anywhere but into his eyes. It had been years since he had ridden, but Johnny Blaze found it to be like an old pair of shoes: comfortable and easy to slip right back into.   
  
He watched the road ahead of him melding into a blur below him, the Texas background rushing past him. Deep within him he could feel a tugging, an urge to ride away from everything he had known for the last seven years. Johnny Blaze was heading into the future and the past at the same time. The Ghost Rider was upon him again, dragging his life back into a place he had thought gone forever. A place he had barely escaped last time.  
  
On the horizon lay a small town. He could just make it out in the distance, but could feel it in his stomach. The need was there. That was where it had to go.  
  
Sanctuary had sprung up in the mid nineteenth century as a rest spot for travellers heading to Mexico. It was the last real stop before the border, and had remained pretty much the same since it's birth. It was larger now, housing over seventeen thousand people. When the town had first begun it had been truly alive, constantly busy with those passing through and those wanting to cash in on it's position. Now it was dying. With the popularity of the car there was no need for a stable town. Horses were no longer needed and the town stopped, grinding to a sudden halt. The people became dejected. A few left at the beginning of the nineteen-forties, moving as far as New York to escape Sanctuary.   
  
Those that stayed soon realised the solace to be found in a bottle.  
  
Some tried to change the luck of the town, finding new things to sell, other properties that the town had to offer that had never been needed before. In the sixties the sheriff of the town, Joshua Custer, opened a race track for motorcycles and go-carts. With all the space allowed to him he made some of the largest tracks in the country. Word soon spread and the town was alive again, this time a Mecca for those with a love of bikes and racing. Nearly forty years later the tracks were still open and doing a good trade, though now run by Lucas Custer, the only child of Joshua.   
  
As he drew closer, and signs started to show the way to Sanctuary, Johnny Blaze immediately knew of the towns reputation. Somewhere in his memories he thought he might have been there before, but as with most of his life before Ghost Rider he couldn't remember for certain.   
  
He drew up to the town, getting close enough to look at it and take it all in without crossing into the town itself. It looked dirty, used for decades by people who didn't live there so didn't care. In areas of the town you Johnny noticed attempts at restoration, most left unfinished, the disease of apathy spread into the town by those that visited.  
  
As he stood looking over the town It stirred within him. It moved, letting something become free again, a memory of why he knew this place. This was where he had decided to give up riding, where he decided to let it all go. Johnny searched the memory, tearing it apart on the roadside looking for the reason. But there was nothing.  
  
  
The streets of Sanctuary were empty. The diner that Johnny sat over his coffee in was empty. The signs up around the town told him that the race season was due to start in less than a week. The motel that he had booked into was nearly full, and had been for over a month. The only reason Johnny had got a room was a cancellation that morning.  
  
The door to the diner swung open. Johnny looked round to see a middle aged man with long brown hair walk in. He held himself high, walked with confidence.   
  
An elderly woman walked out of the kitchen, alerted by the small bell attached to the door.  
  
"Morning Lucas, sir, what can I get you today?"  
  
"I'll just have a coffee this morning Louise, got a busy day ahead of me, what with the bikers due an all." He sounded very happy to Johnny. Business was probably going well this year he thought.  
  
Johnny was lost in his coffee again, trying to gleam more from the memory Ghost Rider had released.  
  
"Johnny? Johnny Blaze? Is that really you?" It was Lucas' voice. Johnny looked up at him, unsure of how this man could know his name. It was probably from his days as a stunt rider, maybe even from the last time Johnny was here.  
  
"I'm sorry to startle you friend," Lucas continued, "But it has been many a year since we seen you in Sanctuary, though that's hardly surprising after your last visit."  
  
Johnny just looked at Lucas, confusion starting to ripple through him. He tried to hide it, but something pushed against his will, It let his confusion show.  
  
"It's me that should apologise," said Johnny, his voice wavering slightly, "But i don't remember being here before. Do you remember me?"  
  
"Well sure I remember you, probably every biker that's gonna show up in the next week gonna know who you are. Your the stunt rider Johnny Blaze. You came here near a decade ago. You're the guy used to ride with Red. Greatest show on earth some would say, including myself. Until the accident course. You know, people still talk about that day, a few blame you even."  
  
Johnny tried to force a memory from Ghost Rider, tried to wrestle one free from him, but he refused to give up any answers. "What accident?" Johnny blurted out the question.  
  
"The one where Red died. You really don't remember do you?"  
  
Johnny could feel Ghost Rider deep within him. He could feel It smiling. 


End file.
